Wings of Destiny
by consultingsourwolf-inthetardis
Summary: With the destruction of Tigerstar, the Clans thought they would live in peace. Instead, journeys are made; destinies discovered; prophecies fulfilled; and, most importantly, great secrets as ancient as the Clans themselves uncovered.
1. PROLOGUE

**Warriors is © to Erin Hunter. **

**P R O L O G U E**

The sounds of battle cries and furious screeches filled the air. Amberkit pressed herself closer against her two brothers, her tiny body shaking as she tried to make herself smaller. Maybe if she made herself smaller, the gray she-kit reasoned, she could just disappear altogether and the scary cats would go away.

"Where's Brightheart?" Amberkit felt Dewkit press closer against her. On her other side, though he was pressed close to the bottom of their nest, Snowkit growled. The sound was soft and almost inaudible; Amberkit wouldn't have heard it had she not been so close.

Amberkit's wide eyes swept the nursery before she replied, "She went outside to fight." Ferncloud stood shoulder to shoulder with Daisy just inside the nursery entrance, keeping an eye on the five kits. Seedkit and Lilykit were with her and her littermates as well. Seedkit was quivering so hard Amberkit was sure she was going to shake off her red tabby fur.

"I'd like to see those Dark Forest warriors try and hurt us!" Snowkit growled beside her.

Amberkit flashed her littermate an annoyed look. Couldn't he see that they were in danger? Amberkit could see it on the faces of her Clanmates, even if they tried to make it seem like things were okay every time they caught her staring. Before she could reply to Snowkit, Dewkit interrupted. "S-stop talking like that, Snowkit!" Dewkit muttered.

"Shh!" Startled by the sudden sound of Daisy's sharp warning, Amberkit turned to find that the queen was glaring at the three of them. "Stop muttering and keep quiet!"

Amberkit was sure that the queen would have said more, but she was suddenly thrust aside as Brightheart scrambled into the den. Dewkit began to scurry up and out of the nest, but was pushed back as their mother clambered in and curled herself protectively around them. Deep claw marks lined the old scars that marked Brightheart's face, and blood trickled freely through her downy-white fur. Amberkit must have been staring, because when Brightheart glanced down at her, the queen's face slid into one of warmth, replacing the fear.

"I'm okay." Brightheart meowed, leaning down to touch her nose to Amberkit's forehead. "These are nothing compared to the injuries I gave the other warrior."

"Did you kill him?" Snowkit shouted aloud, wriggling in between Amberkit and Dewkit to stare up in awe at Brightheart. "Did you claw out his fur?" The white tom-kit bared his teeth in a growl and lashed out with a clumsy forepaw.

Brightheart pushed Snowkit down closer to her belly with a front paw. "Hush." She told the little tom. The warmth had faded from Brightheart's single eye, and now it gleamed with obvious fear. Dewkit was shaking all the more now, and Amberkit pressed against him in an attempt to soothe her frightened brother. Amberkit's own heart hammered inside her chest like a constrained hummingbird, waiting to be freed from its prison. Just as Amberkit opened her mouth to say something to Dewkit, the sudden sound of screeches outside broke her train of thought.

The blue and white she-kit turned her head in time to see a broad-shouldered tabby shouldering his way in through the nursery, shoving aside both Ferncloud and Daisy as if they were nothing but small mice. His amber eyes were cold, and gleamed as they scanned the nursery. When they fell on Amberkit and her siblings, he grinned.

Without a word, the tabby tom suddenly lunged at Brightheart. He hooked his curved claws into her patched coat, tearing at fur and flesh alike mercilessly. Amberkit heard her mother cry out, but fear rendered her useless. She, along with the rest of the kits, crouched helpless against the nest.

With a cry, Amberkit was forced to watch as Brightheart's still and lifeless body was cast a side. Beside her, Snowkit let loose a snarl. "What have you done?"

Dewkit whimpered as the tabby slide forward, his eyes once more on the five of them. "Three great destinies…" The tom muttered to himself. His eyes traveled from one kit to another, before they finally came to a stop on Amberkit. "Destinies that will be lost here."

A frightened scream wrenched itself from Amberkit's throat as the tabby tom lunged forward. He grabbed her by the scruff and shook her like a mouse. As the pain became unbearable, Amberkit slid into the welcoming embrace of the dark that enveloped her with welcoming arms.

-x-

**This is a bit short, but it's just the prologue and only the beginning. Chapter one should be longer. Each chapter may be from the perspective of either one of three characters. At this point, I'm not sure how I'm going to format it. **


	2. CHAPTER ONE: Amberpaw

**C H A P T E R O N E**

Amberpaw's lungs felt starved for oxygen as she opened her eyes. She gasped for air, gaze wide and unfocused as she glanced about the den. It was several long moments before her vision cleared, and Amberpaw was presented with the sight of Dewpaw's face nearly pressed against hers. His amber eyes were wide and glistening with concern, much to Amberpaw's annoyance.

"Amberpaw, are you-"

The gray she-cat stood abruptly, interrupting Dewpaw in the middle of his sentence. "I'm fine." She mewed pointedly, hoping he would get the picture and cut whatever plans he had to interrogate her. Peeking out of the corner of her eye, Amberpaw watched as Dewpaw opened and closed his mouth in rapid succession. It had been this way for, well, for as long as she could remember. Since the day when the Dark Forest had attacked the four Clans, and they had witnessed the death of various Clanmates, she and Dewpaw had gotten closer. Eerily close, in fact. Dewpaw always seemed to know what she was up to, and she him.

Snowpaw, on the other hand, was an entirely different story. In the weeks following the battle, Snowpaw had grown all the more cocky. He spent most of his time with Seedpaw and Lilypaw, who flocked after him as often as they could. Oftentimes, he would gloat over how he could have defeated Tigerstar himself, had he been a warrior at the time. It unsettled Amberpaw to hear her brother talk like that. Sure, he had been self-confident and a fierce tom-cat before the battle, but now it was getting out of hand.

The white-furred apprentice had just slipped out from the den as Amberpaw looked up, the tip of his slender tail all that could be seen. Only steps behind him were Seedpaw and Lilypaw; the former flashed a concerned glance over her shoulder at Amberpaw before she left as well.

When it was only herself and Dewpaw that remained in the den, Amberpaw sighed. She relaxed her tense posture and slumped down. "I had another nightmare." She admitted with a quiet whisper.

Pressing his side against Amberpaw's in comfort, Dewpaw meowed, "About the battle?" When Amberpaw nodded, he continued. "Don't worry about it." He said. "It's just a dream. After all, we're all safe now. Brightheart is okay, and you're okay. Tigerstar is gone, and this time for good." The words had a familiar ring to them. Dewpaw was quoting Bramblestar word for word, saying the exact same thing her mentor had told the entire Clan when the chaos had begun to settle the morning following the battle.

"Think you're going to be Clan leader, talking big like that?" Amberpaw teased. Shoving Dewpaw playfully, the tabby rose to her paws. "Come on, let's go before Bramblestar sends someone to fetch us." Snowpaw would never have let the two of them live it down, Amberpaw knew, if they had to have warriors come and see if they were getting up. Dewpaw nodded, and together the two siblings padded from the apprentice den.

The camp was bustling with mid-morning activity as Amberpaw and Dewpaw headed into the open. The sun was just beginning to show over the top of the ravine, basking the red-brown rocks in a golden glow.

Across the camp, Amberpaw spotted Brightheart talking with Whitewing and Lionblaze. With a nod of her head, Brightheart turned and trotted toward Amberpaw. The other two turned and loped to the exit. "Snowpaw told her." Amberpaw muttered, catching sight of her other brother nearby. His amber eyes gleamed as she stared at him, and his lips twisted into a coy grin. He said something to Lilypaw, who laughed at whatever it was he had said. "Stupid furball…"

"Your brother is just worried." Brightheart chided. The red and white she-cat fell into step beside Amberpaw and Dewpaw as the two continued along through the camp. Amberpaw frowned, guilt warming the tips of her ears. Dewpaw flashed her an apologetic smile. Turning, he crossed the camp, leaving Amberpaw alone with Brightheart.

_Sure. _She thought. _I'll believe that arrogant mouse-brain cares when hedgehogs start to fly. _Amberpaw pretended to busy herself with nosing through the freshkill pile, putting off answering Brightheart. But it didn't look like she was required to say anything at all. Instead, Brightheart continued to speak.

"So… you're still having nightmares?"

When Amberpaw glanced up at her mother, guilt flashed throughout her, while shame heated her blue-gray pelt. She knew that Brightheart felt helpless, unable to do anything about the reoccurring nightmares that happened at least once every quarter moon. Much to the apprentice's dismay, she had heard Dovewing muttering to Ivypool about how Brightheart had even gone to Jayfeather for help. Even so, there was nothing the medicine cat could do to treat nightmares. They were going to have to go away on their own, a fact that Amberpaw had come to terms with since they had first begun.

The apprentice pulled a plump squirrel from the pile. She admired it for a long moment, noting that the elders would be pleased to have such a catch brought to them. Then she turned back to Brightheart. "Yeah , I'm still having them." Amberpaw confirmed. She hated the look of sadness that swept through Brightheart's single eye. Quickly, Amberpaw tried to ease her mother's worries. "But they'll go away eventually. And Bramblestar said that he's going to take me out with some of the other apprentices today and have us climb the Ancient Oak. With all of this new training, I'll be too tired to dream."

Wanting to get out of there before Brightheart could make her feel any worse, Amberpaw swiftly bent and grabbed the squirrel. Saying nothing, and nodding once to her mother, Amberpaw turned and loped off toward the elders den.

Outside, Purdy was sharing tongues with Spiderleg. Thornclaw lay tail-lengths away, head lifted toward the sunlight. Smiling Dovepaw slid to a stop beside Purdy and Spiderleg. "There was this one time that I fought off an angry mother badger in the forest outside-" Purdy was saying, eyes half-lidded as he reminisced on older times. When he caught sight of Amberpaw, the old tabby's face broke into a grin. "Hello there, Amberpaw!"

Thornclaw re-opened his eyes. Gaze fixing on the squirrel that lay at Amberpaw's paws, he rasped, "That for us?"

"Of course it's for us!" A voice snapped from the shade of the elders den. Amberpaw glanced up. Dustpelt crouched just inside the den, his amber eyes unfocused and brimming with grief. It had been seven moons since the death of his mate, yet the tabby tom refused to get over Ferncloud's death. Amberpaw thought back to the battle, and how she and her siblings had mistaken Ferncloud to be asleep. It made her heart clench now to look back on it, and see how terribly naïve she had been.

Purdy twisted to glance over his shoulder at Dustpelt. After a moment, he nodded. "Well then, get out here and let's eat." It was hard to imagine that Purdy had lost someone too, from the brightness of his eyes and the friendly smile that seemed to be constantly present on his face. But when questioned, the former kittypet would merely shrug and say that Mousefur wouldn't have wanted him to spend his days wallowing in sadness.

Saying nothing, Dustpelt pushed himself to his paws and padded forward to join the other three elders. After Ferncloud's death, the warrior had decided it was his time to join the elders in their den. Amberpaw couldn't help but wish that the old Dustpelt would return; the one that was fearless and didn't back down from anything.

As the four cats settled down to eat, Amberpaw meowed a short goodbye and trailed off through the camp. She was halfway to where Bramblestar was waiting with Lilypaw and Dewpaw, along with their mentors Squirrelflight and Mousewhisker, when the bramble entrance began to shake. Alarmed, the Clan fell silent as the memories of the Dark Forest's attack returned to their minds.

Cherryfall burst into the camp. Her sides heaved as she tried to draw air into her lungs. Foxleap, her mate, rushed to her side from the other side of camp. "What happened, Cherryfall?" The tabby tom demanded, his orange eyes wide with fear. As Amberpaw stared, she realized with a jolt of surprise that the warrior was bleeding.

"Jayfeather!" Lionblaze called, but he was seconds too late; the irritable medicine cat was already crossing the camp. Even though she had known him for moons now, it still surprised Amberpaw to see the tom-cat move about so confidently. She had thought that, being blind, Jayfeather's movements would be awkward and jolting.

"ShadowClan…" Cherryfall breathed. The tabby had finally seemed to regain her voice as she slowly caught her breath.

Bramblestar tipped his head to the side. "What about ShadowClan?" The Clan leader meowed urgently. A feeling of dread began to well up inside of Amberpaw's chest.

It was several long moments before Cherryfall seemed to find her voice once again. "The dawn patrol was attacked! Graystripe and Hazeltail are outnumbered!"


End file.
